This invention relates to high speed printing mechanisms particularly of the type utilizing a cylindrical print head or wheel carrying a number of bands of type characters. Present day business machines require the use of a large number of type characters covering a range of alphanumeric and symbolic characters. For maximum efficiency it is common to arrange these characters in a plurality of bands around the periphery of a circular or cylindrical print wheel.
It has been a problem in the past to achieve rapid shifting of the print wheel so that the appropriate band containing the desired character is selected and positioned in proper relation to the platen for printing. An example of one solution to this problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,743,073 for a "Print Head Shifting Mechanism" assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
The present invention is characterized by a reduction in the number of elements required to perform shifting of the print head while, at the same time, increasing the speed of performance.